A Millennial’s Perspective on Today’s Job Market

One of the hottest topics in today’s media is millennials. People want to know what they’re thinking, what they’re doing, and why employers feel so strongly about them one way or another.

But before we can dive into this topic, I’ll need to answer one important question: who exactly is a millennial? In case you don’t already know, millennials are people born between the years 1982 and 1996 (though you may stumble upon some research that extends that date into the early 2000’s). For those of you who don’t want to do that math, that means millennials today fall between the ages of 21 and 35. As I’ll be 24 this year, that makes me part of the oh-so-trendy group.

Whether you’re a fellow millennial, a baby boomer, or part of some other generation, you can’t deny that we’ve taken over a decent chunk of the job market. According to a Wired article on millennials in the workforce, “the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2030 this hyper-connected, tech savvy generation will make up 75% of the workforce.” And that’s what I’m here to talk about today.

Instead of my standard blog entries, I thought I’d provide my personal take on millennials in today’s job market. Similar to a “letter from the editor,” this is an opinion piece (based on a statistically-proven trend happening in today’s workforce). So, as I discuss my views on the topic, don’t be afraid to join in and let us know yours.

In my opinion, there are two main reasons millennials are crowding our workforce. The first is obvious: in comparison to older generations, millennials are extremely tech-savvy. The second is because they are creative thinkers who are always concerned with “what’s next” in not only their lives, but society as a whole.

But let’s start by discussing the most obvious advantage: their tech-savviness.

Millennials were born into a mobile-compatible lifestyle. And whether you agree or disagree with it, that’s a major advantage in today’s job market because so many of today’s industries are online in at least one way.

For example, let’s look at some of the “big dogs”— or top industries— in the job market. The health care, sales, advertising, retail, transport, and finance industries have all built large presences’ on digital platforms. Over the past couple of decades, all of the big name companies in these industries have adapted to advances in technology by building and maintaining personal websites, staying active on review sites and social media, creating apps, providing location services, and so much more.

So, is it really a surprise to older generations that these companies set out to hire more tech-savvy employees? After all, millennials grew up on video games at home and software programs at school, so no matter which industry they enter, they come with a base knowledge of IT and the digital world that older generations just didn’t have.

The problem with this, in my opinion, is that older generations reacted so negatively to these advances and, in turn, millennials in general. When given the choice between quickly learning the same knowledge or being boxed out of the workforce in comparison, they chose wrong. As a result, we have a millennial-filled workforce and slightly bitter older generations with fewer relevant professional skills.

Now, of course, this isn’t me saying, “millennials are the best workers and everyone else is simply stupid.” I personally know many baby boomers and generation X-ers who are far more experienced, intelligent, and suited for the marketing industry than I am. And I actively enjoy learning from them. But, unfortunately, the sad truth is that much of our older generations do refuse to adapt to a tech-based work environments.

Which brings me to my second point. Millennials are extremely innovate, creative thinkers. Once again, this is not to say that other generations aren’t. By this, I merely mean that it’s a huge strength many millennials have been taught early on.

Today, people are learning differently than older generations did. School programs and teachers are teaching students to think “outside of the box” and come up with creative solutions to common problems they may face in the workforce.

And it’s a good thing we are being taught this way, because employers are no longer satisfied with obvious solutions to obvious problems. In such a competitive market, employers want to hire people who are able to spin straw into gold— or, in this case, ideas into cold, hard money.

At the end of the day, I believe that if other generations were to openly adapt to technology and innovation the way millennials have, the workforce would even out rapidly. Though I agree it isn’t ideal or convenient for so many people to have to change the way they currently work or think, I also believe it would ultimately benefit both the workforce and the world enough to be worth the hassle.

Now that you’ve heard my opinion on millennials in the workforce, the BoydTech team wants to know yours. What do you think about employers’ recent interest in millennials? Do you agree or disagree with my stance on the situation? Is there something I didn’t cover that’s been on your mind? Let us know below or by reaching out on social media.